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Sunday, December 20, 2009

A great opportunity was presented in front of me to visit the ship-breaking yards of Sitakunda. I simply couldn’t think about missing it. And how many times Shudipto gets the credit? His initiative to get access to the sensitive ship-breaking yards had to be appreciated. This was yet another tour organised by “Through the Lens: Bangladesh” (TTL) group of Flickr. Even though the main attraction of the tour was Chandranath Hill of Sitakunda, to me it was the ship-breaking yard that provided the kick! But I was extremely concerned about my busy office schedules. There was every chance that I might miss the tour. Yet, I thought I shouldn’t cancel my participation in it too early. I kept my chances alive until the last moment. I finally confirmed Thursday night, barely 10 hours before the journey began!

8AM bus was almost too much for me, as I was barely able to reach Sayedabad Bus Terminal. It was a small team; almost too small compared to the previous safari tours that we had from TTL. Only four of us were on board the bus. Another member was supposed to join us from Chittagong. The number of members meant that this tour was going to be somewhat different from the others. The journey lacked the chaos of other times! We missed a big gang badly. But considering the sensitivity of the tour subjects, somehow a smaller group helped us a lot.

After a hair-raising 5 hours’ bus journey, we finally reached Sitakunda. This is the first time we didn’t have a hotel booked. Our plan was originally to stay at Chittagong, because we were supposed to have a much larger group. But a small group changed everything. We searched for a decent hotel, but failed. Then Shudipto came up with his fantastic connections, and in no time we were in a lavish bunglow! What a change of fortune within such a short time. Anyway, with our lodgings confirmed, we went to Sitakunda bazaar and finished a goodish lunch. We met our other friend from Chittagong there.

We quickly finished our lunch and grabbed a three-wheeler by around 3:20PM. Our destination was Bhatiary, the main hub of ship-breaking business in Bangladesh. We reached there after half-an-hour’s journey. After getting the proper authorisations, we were given a free hand in the open. But the condition was, we could not go inside the ships.

The first glance at those ships inspired awe in us! Honestly, this was a amazing feeling seeing those massive structures towering above the ground. I had been to these yards before, but didn’t manage to get a glimpse of that many ships. Yes, there were quite a few ships there. Some were almost intact, while others were cut into pieces. Our movement was somewhat impeded by the soft mud. After all, this was a sea beach, so, mud was not supposed to be a strange phenomenon.

It was a Friday, and Fridays are usually half-day working time. Work went on until around 2PM, a couple of hours before we actually arrived there. There was hardly anyone there. Only some watchmen were roaming about and above the ships. We roamed about in the mud and explored different opportunities to get different shots in the same place. Actually, the subjects were so big that a lot of walking needed to be done before a different composition could be tried.

Although we had little opportunity to manoeuvre ourselves in the mud, shooting continued without mercy. We didn’t rest our cameras until the red ball of the sun set right between two beached ships. It was an awesome moment. It was a fit tribute to the day’s efforts. Amazing day we had! We came back to Sitakunda right after sunset. We were tired. A day of journey from the early morning, followed by a visit to the yard. A busy, but a very productive day.

Second day’s plan was to start early. We finished our breakfast by around 8:30AM and boarded a three-wheeler. Ultimate destination Chadranath Hill and Temple. This temple stands at the top of a hill, which can be accessed via a 1200-step stair. But before that hill can be reached, we needed to go through the Sankar Math, the main place of Hindu worshipers. The Math lies right next to the Sitakunda town. Chandranath Hill is usually famous for its once-in-a-year festival. Thousands gather there during that time, but during the rest of the year, it is usually not occupied. This day is due on the last day of Bengali month of Magh; or 12th of February 2010. We thought of getting a glimpse of that temple in its usual self.

At the Sankar Math, Shudipto introduced us to his uncle, who was one of the highest priests there. His hospitality delighted us. He gave us enough advice and direction to us, which helped us to plan our day. But most disappointingly, he advised us not to go to Chandranath, or even to go to a much nearer waterfall. His concern was a security issue. We took his advice and the guide he gave us. Rubel took us to the nearest temple that lies on the way to Chandranath. This temple is called the Shambhunath Temple. Its not too far from Sankar Math. Just a bit of uphill walk took us there.

We received even more advice there regarding a walk to Chandranath. Priests and all others advised against such an idea. Our heart sank! We had so much plan around it; and now this. The groups of miscreants there are very well-organised and regularly intercept visitors and take their belongings. They even intercept large groups of tourists. They have informers all throughout the place and organise and execute their missions flawlessly. What people told us was that the police was having a hard time wiping this group off. This is a very remote place with a lot of hiding places; so, getting rid of these vandals wasn’t easy at all.

We decided to abandon our plan for the moment. We would rather visit the place again coming February, when such risks usually don’t exist. Festival time brings thousands of people, and a lot of security with it. It would be much safer to visit the place then. We only awed at the peak of Chandranath. The high hill presented a pretty imposing personality. There were two temples at the top of Chandranath, one built recently and the other one built several hundred years ago. We were content with snapping the temples from our position way below.

The time released by this change of plan gave us opportunity to stay longer at Shambhunath. We developed bit of a relationship with the priest there and snapped quite a few pics. We enjoyed the short time out there. We also got some glimpses of some squirrels just outside the temple. Their activities made us captive for a while. On the way down, we stopped at a ‘shashan’ or cremation place, where the dead receive their last rites. The mood of the place held us up for a while.

Once back at Sankar Math, we climbed the small height of around 100 steps. There we spent some time at the places of worship. We had unprecedented access to the insides of the temples thanks to Shudipto’s uncle. This was the best times for us during the day. We tried to forget the loss of Chandranath and concentrated on the subjects in front of us. We also relaxed there under the shadows and received nice entertainments by the students there. Rubel also proved his worth by singing. It had to be appreciated.

Lunch time was another great time for us. We received Prasad at the temple. The meal was both delicious and really filled our stomach. After relaxing for a while, we bade goodbye to the priests, especially the generous high priest, Shudipto’s uncle. By around 2:00PM we were back at Sitakunda. We had enough time to rest before boarding our bus at 4:30PM.

Though the tour had a lot of disappointments, it certainly acted as a key to further explorations. We had unusual access to ship-breaking yard and Sankar Math. We developed good enough relationship with key people to help us come back. We brought this key for others, yet, we were able to capture some truly amazing moments. In my view, it was a great success! Thanks Shudipto; thanks TTL!

A great opportunity was presented in front of me to visit the ship-breaking yards of Sitakunda. I simply couldn’t think about missing it. And how many times Shudipto gets the credit? His initiative to get access to the sensitive ship-breaking yards had to be appreciated. This was yet another tour organised by “Through the Lens: Bangladesh” (TTL) group of Flickr. Even though the main attraction of the tour was Chandranath Hill of Sitakunda, to me it was the ship-breaking yard that provided the kick! But I was extremely concerned about my busy office schedules. There was every chance that I might miss the tour. Yet, I thought I shouldn’t cancel my participation in it too early. I kept my chances alive until the last moment. I finally confirmed Thursday night, barely 10 hours before the journey began!

8AM bus was almost too much for me, as I was barely able to reach Sayedabad Bus Terminal. It was a small team; almost too small compared to the previous safari tours that we had from TTL. Only four of us were on board the bus. Another member was supposed to join us from Chittagong. The number of members meant that this tour was going to be somewhat different from the others. The journey lacked the chaos of other times! We missed a big gang badly. But considering the sensitivity of the tour subjects, somehow a smaller group helped us a lot.

After a hair-raising 5 hours’ bus journey, we finally reached Sitakunda. This is the first time we didn’t have a hotel booked. Our plan was originally to stay at Chittagong, because we were supposed to have a much larger group. But a small group changed everything. We searched for a decent hotel, but failed. Then Shudipto came up with his fantastic connections, and in no time we were in a lavish bunglow! What a change of fortune within such a short time. Anyway, with our lodgings confirmed, we went to Sitakunda bazaar and finished a goodish lunch. We met our other friend from Chittagong there.

We quickly finished our lunch and grabbed a three-wheeler by around 3:20PM. Our destination was Bhatiary, the main hub of ship-breaking business in Bangladesh. We reached there after half-an-hour’s journey. After getting the proper authorisations, we were given a free hand in the open. But the condition was, we could not go inside the ships.

The first glance at those ships inspired awe in us! Honestly, this was a amazing feeling seeing those massive structures towering above the ground. I had been to these yards before, but didn’t manage to get a glimpse of that many ships. Yes, there were quite a few ships there. Some were almost intact, while others were cut into pieces. Our movement was somewhat impeded by the soft mud. After all, this was a sea beach, so, mud was not supposed to be a strange phenomenon.

It was a Friday, and Fridays are usually half-day working time. Work went on until around 2PM, a couple of hours before we actually arrived there. There was hardly anyone there. Only some watchmen were roaming about and above the ships. We roamed about in the mud and explored different opportunities to get different shots in the same place. Actually, the subjects were so big that a lot of walking needed to be done before a different composition could be tried.

Although we had little opportunity to manoeuvre ourselves in the mud, shooting continued without mercy. We didn’t rest our cameras until the red ball of the sun set right between two beached ships. It was an awesome moment. It was a fit tribute to the day’s efforts. Amazing day we had! We came back to Sitakunda right after sunset. We were tired. A day of journey from the early morning, followed by a visit to the yard. A busy, but a very productive day.

Second day’s plan was to start early. We finished our breakfast by around 8:30AM and boarded a three-wheeler. Ultimate destination Chadranath Hill and Temple. This temple stands at the top of a hill, which can be accessed via a 1200-step stair. But before that hill can be reached, we needed to go through the Sankar Math, the main place of Hindu worshipers. The Math lies right next to the Sitakunda town. Chandranath Hill is usually famous for its once-in-a-year festival. Thousands gather there during that time, but during the rest of the year, it is usually not occupied. This day is due on the last day of Bengali month of Magh; or 12th of February 2010. We thought of getting a glimpse of that temple in its usual self.

At the Sankar Math, Shudipto introduced us to his uncle, who was one of the highest priests there. His hospitality delighted us. He gave us enough advice and direction to us, which helped us to plan our day. But most disappointingly, he advised us not to go to Chandranath, or even to go to a much nearer waterfall. His concern was a security issue. We took his advice and the guide he gave us. Rubel took us to the nearest temple that lies on the way to Chandranath. This temple is called the Shambhunath Temple. Its not too far from Sankar Math. Just a bit of uphill walk took us there.

We received even more advice there regarding a walk to Chandranath. Priests and all others advised against such an idea. Our heart sank! We had so much plan around it; and now this. The groups of miscreants there are very well-organised and regularly intercept visitors and take their belongings. They even intercept large groups of tourists. They have informers all throughout the place and organise and execute their missions flawlessly. What people told us was that the police was having a hard time wiping this group off. This is a very remote place with a lot of hiding places; so, getting rid of these vandals wasn’t easy at all.

We decided to abandon our plan for the moment. We would rather visit the place again coming February, when such risks usually don’t exist. Festival time brings thousands of people, and a lot of security with it. It would be much safer to visit the place then. We only awed at the peak of Chandranath. The high hill presented a pretty imposing personality. There were two temples at the top of Chandranath, one built recently and the other one built several hundred years ago. We were content with snapping the temples from our position way below.

The time released by this change of plan gave us opportunity to stay longer at Shambhunath. We developed bit of a relationship with the priest there and snapped quite a few pics. We enjoyed the short time out there. We also got some glimpses of some squirrels just outside the temple. Their activities made us captive for a while. On the way down, we stopped at a ‘shashan’ or cremation place, where the dead receive their last rites. The mood of the place held us up for a while.

Once back at Sankar Math, we climbed the small height of around 100 steps. There we spent some time at the places of worship. We had unprecedented access to the insides of the temples thanks to Shudipto’s uncle. This was the best times for us during the day. We tried to forget the loss of Chandranath and concentrated on the subjects in front of us. We also relaxed there under the shadows and received nice entertainments by the students there. Rubel also proved his worth by singing. It had to be appreciated.

Lunch time was another great time for us. We received Prasad at the temple. The meal was both delicious and really filled our stomach. After relaxing for a while, we bade goodbye to the priests, especially the generous high priest, Shudipto’s uncle. By around 2:00PM we were back at Sitakunda. We had enough time to rest before boarding our bus at 4:30PM.

Though the tour had a lot of disappointments, it certainly acted as a key to further explorations. We had unusual access to ship-breaking yard and Sankar Math. We developed good enough relationship with key people to help us come back. We brought this key for others, yet, we were able to capture some truly amazing moments. In my view, it was a great success! Thanks Shudipto; thanks TTL!

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